“For the wealthy with lots of financial assets, college costs less than it used to. For those who depend on their jobs for income, the opposite is true.”
That’s the conclusion of the College Board, a research firm, as reported in Saturday’s New York Times.
When expressed as weeks of pay needed to finance four years of college, costs have more than doubled in the last thirty years for both private and public institutions. When expressed as units of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, costs have dropped by more than half. In dollars, the costs are daunting no matter how you fund them, the average price of a private four-year college this year was $30,367; a public one was $12,796. Both were up almost 6 percent from last year, higher than the rate of inflation.
Past performance being no guarantee of future results, I think it makes sense both to work hard and invest for our children’s education. (Not to mention the fact that most of us need to work to have money to invest in the first place.) If you’re considering a 529 college savings plan or want tips on other options for college savings, try Savingforcollege.com. They do not sell investments or offer individual investment advice. Instead, they offer lots of information including savings-plan basics, ratings, calculators, news, links to enrollment forms, and more.